Testing times for Key

There are choices aplenty for voters concerned about how the country should be governed for the next three years and the merits of the policies that will affect our economic and social wellbeing much further into the future. Fairfax political commentator Vernon Small dealt with some of them when he pointed out that for the first time in decades a stark choice is on offer about the economic direction taken by the next government. National offers more of the same. Labour offers changes ranging from taxes to the way the Reserve Bank operates, and including regulation of the housing and energy markets. Similar choices are being offered in other policy areas, from health and education to foreign affairs and trade, although the coalition compromises either party would have to make are tempering considerations. But policy choices have been overshadowed by the publication of a book Dirty Politics, with disclosures of unsavoury techniques employed in socalled ‘‘attack politics’’. It is hard to measure the extent to which these disclosures might affect voting behaviour. Opinion polls show National still commands a significant lead over Labour and the parties with which it might form an alternative government. Any shifts in support could result from many factors, including last week’s televised leaders’ debate.

The debate give viewers a chance to assess the styles of Prime Minister John Key and Labour leader David Cunliffe. But Key’s leadership has been more severely tested since Justice Minister Judith Collins – until the weekend – became a greater focus of media attention than the policies his party should have been promoting. She had become a political liability because of the allegations against her and the sigh of relief from other Nats when she quit was palpable. Another test for Key will be his organising an inquiry into the matters that precipitated her resignation. If he is prudent he will ensure Cunliffe has a say in how the inquiry is conducted and the terms of reference. He would be prudent, too, to stop claiming his government is the victim of Left-wing smear campaigns that are diverting voters from hearing about ‘‘the real issues’’. Fitness to govern and the way politicians exercise their power – key issues raised by the book – are no less important than the policies they are pledged to implement.